{"id":62064,"date":"2017-08-15T08:30:15","date_gmt":"2017-08-15T12:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.acscreative.com\/?p=62064"},"modified":"2017-08-15T08:30:15","modified_gmt":"2017-08-15T12:30:15","slug":"opportunity-website-accessibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acsredux.acscreativedev.com\/?p=62064","title":{"rendered":"An Opportunity for Website Accessibility"},"content":{"rendered":"

A couple weeks ago, the ACS team attended An Event Apart in Washington DC. This post on accessibility is the second in a series about our takeaways from this web design and development conference. In case you missed it, check out our first post in the series on what makes industry conferences valuable<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A Story of Inclusion<\/h3>\n

For this AEA post, we\u2019ll be highlighting Derek Featherstone<\/strong>, founder of SimplyAccessible<\/a>. In “Where Accessibility Lives,” Derek led our journey through the eyes of an imaginary company called incrediWeb<\/em>. This theoretical e-commerce startup was receiving user feedback that didn\u2019t quite align with their perception of the incrediWeb site. For example, “the buttons are too close together” or “there is too much background noise in the video.” After several submissions of this nature, it became apparent to the company that their website had issues that made browsing (and buying) difficult for people with disabilities and personal restrictions.<\/p>\n

The diligent team at incrediWeb knew accessibility was the answer, but they were faced with a whole new realm of questions\u2026 Whose job is this? Where do we start? What are we missing? How do we fix it? With virtually countless possibilities\u00a0on the other side of the screen, it can certainly be daunting to plan for and satisfy all scenarios. According to Featherstone, the process can be broken down into three digestible steps:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Forget Perfect – Aim for Better<\/li>\n
  2. Start and Learn Quickly<\/li>\n
  3. Research and Plan<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    From internal awareness to auditing their website to solving nearly 300 accessibility<\/strong> issues, incrediWeb utilized these steps to work toward an optimized experience for all visitors. It takes time – it takes testing – and it takes perspective, but the end result is well worth the effort. Derek left us with a quote he began his presentation with, now received with even greater meaning:<\/p>\n

    “Accessibility lives in people. Accessibility lives in process. Accessibility lives in tools.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \"Man<\/p>\n

    Website Accessibility in a Nutshell<\/h3>\n

    Let\u2019s touch on the basics. Essentially, Website Accessibility<\/strong> isn\u2019t a black and white concept (and we’re talking beyond the parameters of 508 compliance<\/a> here). It\u2019s not something you either have or don\u2019t. It\u2019s something you work toward – one page, one image, and one pixel at a time.<\/p>\n

    There are many steps designers and developers can take to ensure a website\u2019s content is easily readable and navigable to those with special browsing needs. For instance, you might assume blind people don\u2019t use the internet. Well, they do. How do you think one of the world\u2019s 285 million visually-impaired people would fare on your website? Fortunately, as online standards and technologies have evolved, so has our understanding of addressing challenges like this and many others.<\/p>\n

    Derek introduced the scenarios of paraplegia, quadriplegia, farsightedness, nearsightedness, color blindness, dyslexia, hearing impairment, and the list goes on. It may not be possible to serve every single user an equally brilliant experience on your website, but your goal should be better – not perfect. Take the first step TODAY and implement these five simple, universal accessibility best practices:<\/p>\n